CaptionMax Services Provide Universal Access to Media
Are you a sighted person? You may be interested in this experiment. Put a DVD of your favorite movie in your DVD player and grab your television remote control (we’ll give you that much as a head start, just to be fair). Now close your eyes. Do you know where the power button is? Good! Now, with your eyes closed, can you navigate the DVD’s menu? Suppose you wanted to see if it has description available. Can you find out without opening your eyes?
Suppose you wanted to watch a particular scene in the program. Can you find that scene?
By now, you have observed that this DVD, like most DVDs, is not very accessible to people with little or no eyesight. It doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, DVDs present a rich opportunity to expand the world of video. Not for nothing was the term “multimedia” coined to describe products delivered by DVD and computer; these delivery systems are capable of doing much more than the video programs you see on TV or at the movies.
Multimedia doesn’t have to mean just more pictures and games. It can also mean more ways to deliver useful information to students, regardless of whether they have disabilities.
That’s why we at CaptionMax developed the Universal Access to Media (UAM) program. We designed UAM to explore new and better ways to make media accessible. But we didn’t stop there. Just as curb cuts have proven to have value beyond enabling wheelchair users to cross streets, we felt that we could stretch and improve how captions and descriptions work in such a way that they could benefit a wide range of learners.
For example, if description can help a student with little or no sight have a better understanding of the media, then what about a student with learning disabilities or someone who benefits from multiple input sources?
Currently the UAM program focuses on the DVD format for the following reasons: First, it is a flexible, powerful medium; and second, players are relatively inexpensive, ensuring that most classrooms should be able to use the product. Ultimately, the program will expand to other media besides DVD, depending in part on what technologies and resources are available to—and used the most by—schools.
UAM Program Features
All UAM programs have at least the following features:
- • Captions
- User-selected captions will always work—regardless of environment(computer, DVD player, electronic whiteboard, etc.)—because they are activated by the DVD menu. The captions provide, in addition to the dialogue, key information such as sound effects, speaker identification, and other auditory cues.
- • Description
- The audio description option provides an audio track in which a narrator succinctly provides information about the program’s visual content during breaks in the dialogue.
- • Spoken menus (A WMV-capable player is required to view video example)
- From the moment the user inserts the DVD into the computer or player, all menu options are spoken aloud. If desired, this feature can be turned off, but it defaults to “on” to ensure full accessibility. Spoken menus narrate individual options aloud as they are highlighted.
- • Clean, simple menu design
- The original programs usually come to CaptionMax without any menus. Therefore, CaptionMax DVD authors are able to ensure that usability is the paramount focus by designing menus with easy-to-follow navigation trails and large, high-contrast text.
- • Simple navigation
- The DVD authors design every menu to ensure that the user can easily manage the entire menu via only two buttons on either a keyboard or remote control: the down arrow and the Select or Enter key.
In addition, some UAM programs may also have the following features:
- • Expanded description (A WMV-capable player is required to view video example)
- This feature allows time for additional description of important on-screen information by momentarily “freezing” the video while the narrator provides more extensive detail. This is particularly useful when there is not enough time in between the dialogue to adequately describe complex visuals such as a biology specimen or a detailed math problem.
- • Annotations (A WMV-capable player is required to view video example)
- When a word or phrase in the program’s dialogue is highlighted in the captions and signified by a “beep” or chime sound, clicking the computer or remote at the prompt shows the user a dictionary definition of the key term or relevant supplemental information.
- • Captioned description
- The describer’s narration is captioned in italics at the upper left of the screen. This may be useful to students with learning disabilities or ADD/ADHD as well as those who have hearing loss.
To learn more about the UAM program, visit CaptionMax’s UAM page, where you can also view a regularly updated list of all UAM programs.
DCMP provides a list of UAM programs available through the DCMP free-loan media collection on its Web site. UAM titles are also included in the DCMP catalog, and searchable via DCMP’s built-in Google search tool. As with the other media in the DCMP collection, only Level 2 members may borrow these titles, so if you qualify, register for your Level 2 DCMP membership today!
Check out a program and see for yourself why we’re so excited about this! Then please fill out a DCMP response form and let us know what you think.
The UAM program is funded by two grants from the U.S. Department of Education to “go beyond” standard captioning and description services in making non broadcast educational media more accessible to students with disabilities.